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PUBLISHED BY THE STATE UNION EX. COMMITTEE. 

CEARACTER AND RESULTS OF THE WAR. 
How. to Prosecute and how to End it. 

A THEILLINCi AND ELOQUENT SPEECH 

BY '^ 

Major-General B. F. BUTLER. 



Before the return of Gen. Butler from 
the Department of the Gulf, some of the 
leading citizens of New York, anxious 
to testify their admiration of his adminis- 
tration of that Department, and their ap- 
preciation of his distinguished services 
on 'other fields, united in tendering him 
a public dinner, addressing him the fol- 
lowing letter: 

"New York, Thursday, 
Jan. 8, 1863. 

" Jfo/o?' General Benjamin F. Butler^ 
United States Army: 

"Dear Sir : At a meeting of citizens 
of this city, held at the Fifth Avenue 
Hotel on the evening of the 5th inst., 
for the purpose of expressing ^e sense 
of this community in reference' tO' the 
public services rendered by you to the 
country, the following resolution was 
unanimously adopted : 

"Resolved, That the loyal patriotism, indom- 
itable energy, ami great administratitvc ability 
Shown by Major-General Benjamin F, Butler, in 
the various commands held by him in the service 
of the country, and especially in his civil and mil- 
itary administration of the duties pertaining to 
his command of the Department of the Gulf, em- 
inently entitle him to an expression of approba- 
tion on the part of the citizens of New York 

"In the furtherance of the views thus 
expressed it was also resolved, that in 
addition to such action as may be taken 
by our municipal authorities, in extend- 
ing to you the hospitalities of this city, 
a public dinner be tendered to you by 
the iptizens, and the undersigned were ap- 
pointed a committee to communicate with 
you upon the snbject. 



"We have now the honor to apprise 
you of the action thus taken, and toaisk 
that you will meet with our citizens at a 
public dinner at such time, to be ap- 
pointed by you, as may be consistent 
with your official duties and your personal 
ciDuvenience. 

"In conve^ang to you this invitation, 
intended as a tribute of personal respect 
and esteem, we are well assured that it 
will not be the less acceptable to you as 
marked by a still higher significance. 

"The citizens of New York, watching 
the events of the war with a degree of 
vigilance and anxiety proportioned to 
the vast interests and influences which 
converge toward and radiate from this 
great commercial centre, have recognized 
in the course pursued by you in the serv- 
ice and support of the Government, the 
principles which they deem most essen- 
tial and indispensable to its triumph. — 
They share with you the conviction that 
there is no middle or neutral ground be- 
tween loyalty and treason ; that traitors 
against the Government forfeit all rights 
of protection and of property; that 
those who persist in armed rebellion, or 
aid it less openly but not less efiectively, 
must be put down, and kept down by the 
strong hand of power and by the use of 
all rightful means, arffl that so far as 
may be, the sufferings of the poor and 
misguided, caused by the rebellion, 
should be visited upon the authors of 
their calamities. We have seen with 
approbation that in applying these priiv 



k 



1^ T-y 

.3 



ciples, amidst the peculiar difficulties 
and embarrassments incident to your ad- 
ministration in your recent command, 
you have had the sagacity to devise, the 
will to execute, and the couroge to en- 
force the measures which they demanded, 
and we rejoice at the success which has 
vindicated the wisdom and the justice of 
your official course. In thus congratu- 
lating you upon these results, we believe 
that we express the feeling of all those 
who most earnestly desire the restoration 
of tl Union in its full integrity and 
power ; and we trust that you will be 
able to afford us the opportunity of in- 
terchanging with you in the manner pro- 
posed, the patriotic sympathies and 
hopes which belong to this sacred cause. 
'•We are. General, with high respect, 
your friends and obedient servants. 

CbarlrsKing, C. H. Marshall, L. Bradish, 

George Opdyke. Geo. W. Parsons, P. Perit, 
Horacft Webster. Peter Cooper, Hamilton Fish, 

Robert Bayard, Isaac F-^rris, John A. King, 

Fred. De Peyster, Chas. H. Russell, E.D.Morgan, 
B. W. Bonney, .Jonathan Sturges. L- B- Woodruff, 
John Paine, Geo. Griswold, 

W. F . Havemeyer, I . N Phelps, 
John J. Cisco," Hiram Barney, 
John J. Phelps, Penning l)uer, 

■ ■ " Morris Ketohum, 

R.H. McCurdy, 

Ambrose Snow, 

A. W. Bradford, 

W. G. Lambert, 

R. I) Hitchcock, 

P. M. Wetmore 



Geo. W. Blunt, 
Bd. Minturn, 
8. B.Chittenden, 
KUiotC.Cowdin, 
Bd. Learned, 
Morris Franklin, 
E.Nye, 
H. K. Boeart, 
H. A. Hurlhut, 
Geo. Stevenson, 
Hobart Ford, 
Chas. Gould, 
Frank F.. Howe, 



Murray Hoifman, 
Wm. A. Booth, 
Dayid Hoadley, 
John K. Williams, 
E. E. Morgan, 
Wm. Allen Butler, 
6. S. Bobbins, 
Marsh 0. Roberts. 
J. D. Beers, 
B. H. Hutton, 
George Folsom, 
Henry H. Elliott, J. F. Gray, M. D., 
M. H. Grinnell, Russell Sturgess, 



AmosB. Eno, 
Jno. A. C. Gray, 
SethB. -amt, 
B. G. White, 
J. A. PuUen, 



Henry W. T. Mall, Hamlin Blake, 
Paul Spofford, J^ H. Almy, 



N. Sands, 

E. P. Jaxnes, 
S. Draper, 
A. Bierstadt, 
L.B. Wyman, 
M. B. Field, 

F. S.Winston, 
U. F. Andrews, 
John Slosson, 
C.H.Ludington, 
Isaac Dayton, 



Wm. C. Noj-es, 
Joseph Rudd, 



Charles Butler, 
G. T. Strong, 
J. Burns, 
R. A. McCurdy, 
Isaac Sherman, 
T. T. Buckley, 
K. C.Benedict, 



Shepherd Knapp, 
sepn Kucirt, E. 1). .' 

W. Parker, M. D., W. 



.Tohn Jay, 
J. Wadsivorth, 
Wm. V. Brady, 
N. Hay den, 
Wm. Orton, 
T. G. Churchill, 
W. C. Bryant, 
D. Drake Smith, 
Parke Godwin. 



James, 
II. L. Barnes, 

C. A. Brisled. 
JohnB. Hall, 
R. W. VVpgton, 
George Dennison, 
C.R.Robert, 
Joseph Hoxie, 
T. H. Skinner, 

D. f<. Barney, 



To this. Gen. Butler at the earliest 
moment consistent with his official du- 
ties, made the following reply : 

REPLY OF GENERAL BUTLER. 

"Lowell, Thursday, ") 
March 2G, 1863. j 
"Gentlemen: The necessities of my 
position have rendered it exceedingly in- 
convenient for me earlier to reply to 
your exquisitely courteous and too kind 
letter of approval of the administration 
of my command of the Department of 
the Gulf, asking me to fix a day when I 
could meet you as therein proposed. 



"With every expression of profound- 
est gratitude for your invitation to par- 
take of a public dinner with the citizens 
of New York, allow me to suggest that 
while I am waiting orders to join my 
brave comrades in the field, it would not 
be consonant with my sense of duty to 
accept your flattering hospitalities. 

"To you, gentlemen, at home bearing 
your share of the burdens and expense 
of this unholy war, forced upon us, by 
treason, the tendering of such an ex- 
pression of approbation of the conduct 
of a public officer was fit and proper, as 
as it was natural and customary, but my 
acceptance of it would trench upon a 
different feeling. I too well know the 
revulsion of iceling with which the sol- 
dier in the field, occupying the trenches, 
pacing the sentinel's weary path in the 
blazing heat, or watching from his cool 
bivouac the stars that shut out by the 
drenching cloud, hears of feasting and 
merry-making at home by those who 
ought to bear his hardships with him, 
and the bitterness with which he speaks 
of those who thus engaged, are wearing 
his uniform. 

"Upon the scorching sand, and under 
the brain-trying sun of the Gulf coast, ■ 
I have too much shared that feeling to 
add one pang, however slight, to the 
discomfort which my fellow soldiers suf- 
fer doing the duties of the camp and 
field, by my own act, while separated 
momentarily from them by the exigen- 
cies of the public service. 

"You will pardon, I am sure, this ap- 
parent rudeness of refusal of your most, 
generous proposal, but, under such cir- 
cumstances, I have spoken too bitterly 
and often of the participation by absent 
officers in such occasions to permit my- 
self to take part in one, even when of- 
fered in the patriotic spirit which breathes 
through your letter, desiring to testify 
approval of my services to the coun- 
try. 

"It would, however, give me much 
pleasure to testify my gratitude for your 
kindness by meeting you and your fellow- 
citizens in a less formal manner, 'inter- 
changing the patriotic sympathies and 
hopes which belong to this sacred cause.' 
Perhaps, by so doing, we may do some- 
thing in aid of that cause. Whatever 



may strengthen the purpose, deepen the 
resolution" and fix the determination 
never to yield this contest until this re- 
bellion, in its roots and branches, in its 
causes, in its efFects and designs, is over- 
thrown and utterly annihilated forever, 
and the power of the National Grovern- 
ment — with its Democracying influences 
and traditional theories of equality of 
rights, the equality of laws, and equality 
of privileges for all, as received from the 
fathers of the Republic — is actively ac- 
knowledged upon every inch of the Uni- 
ted States territory, is an aid — nay, a 
necessity — to the cause of the country. 
To prepare the public mind by doubts, 
or fears, or suggestions of compromises, 
or hopes of peace, to be satisfied with 
anything less J^than these demands, is 
treason to country, humanity, and God — 
more foul, because more cowardly than 
rebellion. 

"Let, then, every loyal man join 
hands with his neighbor, sinking all dif- 
ferences of political opinion, which must 
be minor to this paramount interest, and 
pledge himself to the fullest support of 
the Grovernment, with men and means to 
crush out this treason, and then, and 
not till then, am I willing to hear any- 
thing of political party. 

"Again and again i-eturning you my 
grateful thanks for the courtesy done me 
by your action, allow me to say that I 
shall be in New York during the coming 
week, and shall be happy at any time to 
meet you gentlemen, and my fellow-citi- 
zens, in such a manner as they may 
think fitting. 

"Most respectfully, your obedient ser- 
vant, 

"Benjamin F. Butler. 
"Major-General U. S. V. I. 

In compliance with Gen. Butler's pref- 
erences, as expressed in the above, a 
public reception was arranged, and took 
place at the Academy of Music, Thurs- 
day evening, April 2d. The welcome 
then extended to the gallant soldier, was, 
in all respects, one of the most enthusi- 
astic and significant ever extended to 
any honored servant of any people. — 
Long before the hour of commencement, 
the house was filled in every part, our 
loyal women alone almost filling the bal- 



cony and upper circles. Mrs. Eutler 
and Mrs. Banks were present, sitting in 
the private boxes, and upon the stage 
were Gencrul Wool, General C. M. Clay, 
and a large number of our well known 
citizens. 

Previous to the opening of the meet- 
ing, Major-General Wool and several 
officers of his staif entered upon the 
stage. His appearance was greeted with 
tremendous cheers. General Wetmore 
came forward and said : 

I am happy to see this immense audi- 
ence recognizes one of our noblest he- 
roes, Major-General Wool. [Cheers.] 

The applause having subsided. Gen. 
Wool advanced to the footlights, and 
said : 

SPEECH OF GEN. WOOL. 

I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for 
the honor of this recognition. I am not 
prepared to make a speech on this occa- 
sion. You will have those who can 
speak to you better than I can do. But 
permit me to say what you already know 
— I am for putting down this rebellion. 
nolens volejis, and will never concede to 
any compromise until that is accomplish- 
ed. [Tremendous cheers.] 

The orchestra having concluded a 
beautiful introductory overture, the Un- 
ion Glee club came forward and sang in 
an excellent manner, "The Sword of. 
Bunker Hill." A loud and long encore 
being given by the audience, the club 
sang 

"Columbia we love thee. 
Land of the free." 

The orchestra soon struck up the en- 
livening strains of "Hail to the Chief," 
which gave sure indication that Major- . 
General Butler was approaching. Soon 
the General made his appearance, and 
was received with long and loud contin- 
ued cheers, the ladies waving their hand- 
kerchiefs, while the men strained their 
throats to give the gallant hero the re- 
ception which was so justly due him. — 
The coup' d ceil presented on the Gener- 
al's appearance was superb. Paroquet, 
dress circle, and galleries united in most 
uproarous cheers, and men seemed al- 
most beside themselves with demonstra- 
tive zeal. Handkerchiefs and hats were 
waved and the uproar continued for sev- 



eral minutes. Silence being restored, 
Senator Morgan introduced Major-Gen- 
eral Butler to His Honor Mayor Opdyke, 
as follows : 

SPEECU OV SENATOR MORGAN. 

Mr. Mayor — It affords me the great- 
est pleasure to introduce to you the 
most efficient officer in the United States 
service, Major-General Benjamin F. But- 
ler. [Loud and continued cheers.] 

Gen. Butler then advanced towards 
the Mayor, who cordially took his hand 
aud then addressed him as follows : 

SPEECH OP THE MAYOR. 

General Butler — The gentlemen 
upon whose invitation you are here, have 
charged me with the agreeable duty of 
bidding you welcome to our city, and 
expressing to you the warm hearted 
greeting, not merely of those present, 
but of every loyal heart in this loyal 
metropolis. Our citizens have long de- 
sired the privilege of testifying to you 
personally their great respect for your 
character, and their high appreciation of 
your public services. In their name I 
thank you for having now accorded 
them this privilege. They have watched 
your public career during the present war 
with a constantly increasing interest 
and admiration. They saw you among the 
first to abandon an honorable and lucra- 
tive profession, and voluntarily take up 
arms in defense of a government you 
loved, although it was administered by 
tho.se whose election you had earnestly 
opposed. They felt that no stronger ev 
idence could be adduced of an exalted 
patriotism. 

Your first theatre of military service 
was in jMaryland, a State then trembling 
in the balance between loyalty and trea- 
son, and in whose metropolis soldiers of 
the Union had been assassinated on their 
way to the protection of the Capitol. At 
that critical period you were fortunately 
placed in command, first at Annapolis 
and afterward at Baltimore ; and it is 
perhaps, not too much to say that it was 
owing to your judicious management, 
in which you wisely blended moderation 
with firmness, that Maryland escaped the 
criminal folly of secession. At all events 
you promptly subdued the outbreaks of 



treason in that State, and thus rendered 
it safe for our troops to pass through 
the City of Baltimore without molesta- 
tion. 

You were next placed in command at 
Fortress Monroe, where you made the 
sagacious discovery that slaves were con- 
traband of war. In view of the tender- 
ness with which our Government aud 
its military commanders had up to that 
time treated the institution of slavery, 
this discovery must be regarded as one 
of the most valuable of the war, and 
therefore one which entitles you to the 
public gratitude. It quietly but most 
effectively divested the 'divine institution' 
of all its sanctity in the presence of 
war. 

From Fortress Monroe you were trans- 
ferred to a wider field of usefulness, by 
being placed in commad of the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf. Your friends knew 
that in a position so environed with diffi- 
culties as this, no ordinary commander 
could hope to acquit himself with credit. 
You soon found yourself, with a hand- 
ful of men. remote from your base of 
supplies and from succor, in the metrop- 
olis of the Confederacy, where the popu- 
lation, with few exceptions were intense- 
ly hostile to the National Government ; 
and the moment they discovered the fi- 
delity and ability with which you upheld 
the interests of the Government, all 
their intensity of hatred was transferred 
to you personally. They grossly mis- 
represented your acts; they wilfully mis- 
interpreted your language ; they heaped 
on you the vilest epithets, and in evei-y 
conceivable way labored to cover your 
name with infamy. 

The rebel government and the rebel 
press througliout the Confederacy took 
up the theme and repeated these slan- 
ders, with every variation that ingenuity 
could suggest. The rebel chief, in his 
annual message, went so far as to brand 
you as an outlaw, and to decree your ex- 
ecution in case you should fall into the 
hands of his military forces. They also 
conferred on you, I believe, the exclu- 
sive honor of offering a large reward for 
your head. Nor were the malignant 
slanders I have referred to uttered only 
by the rebels. Their sympathizers at 
the North aud throughout Europe join- 



ed in tlie refiain, and re-ccliocd their bit- [sterner sex. You taught them to re- 
ter denunciations. 1 spect the authority of the United States, 

Abuse from the bad, like praise from and to fear its power. You treated as 
the good, affords presumptive evidence of j enemies of your country all who avowed 
merit. Hence, if our Government or [themselves as such, and in strict accord- 
its true friends had been ignorant of jance with the usages of war and the laws 
your policy, they might have safely in- j of the United States, you confiscated 
ferred, from this clamor of its bitter en- ■ their property and appropriated it to the 
amies, that that policy was just and vase. [ support of their own poor, and in provi- 

But, sir, the loyal people of the North [ ding for the wants of your army, 
were not ignorant of your acts or your | By these and kindred measures you 
policy. They saw that your capacious | purified the moral, social, and political 
and fertile mind, your resolute will, your [ atmosphere of a city in which each had 
dauntless courage, and your earnest pat- [ been rendered most noxious by the un- 
riotism, rendered you master of the situa-, bridled reign of treason and the vices 
tion, and fitted you above all other men, ! engendered by slavery. By your wise 
for the difiicult position in which you j sanitary regulations you also kept the 
were placed. They saw that you fully material atmosphere pure, and thus ex- 
comprehended your duty as a military i eluded pestilence. As a former resident 
commander, as a legislator, as a judge, | of New Orleans, I know that to have 
as an executive ofiice"r, and as a tamer of accomplished this in a city so unhealthy 
rebel madmen and mad women — for 



your sphere of duty embraced all these ; 
and they saw that your firm will stood 
ever ready to execute what your judg- 
ment dictated and your conscience ap- 
proved. 

In thus acting you strengthened the 
cause of justice and right. But you at 
the same time weakened the cause of its 
enemies, which is the cause of oppres- 
sion and wrong. For this they hate and 



and where all previous efforts in that di- 
rection had failed must be regarded as 
one of your noblest achievements. I 
have little doubt that among its benefi- 
cial results was the preservation of the 
lives of at least one-half of your com- 
mand. Your troops were all unacelima- 
ted. The yellow fever prevailed at near- 
ly all the neighboring ports on the Gulf 
and in the West Indies, and, but for 
your vigorous quarantine and strict sani- 



revile you; for that we esteem and praise; tary regulations within the city, would 
you. ! have become epidemic in New Orleans. 

But, sir, you shocked the sensibilities ■ In that event, your whole army would 
of Secessia, and all its partizans in the | have been attacked by it — for none of 



the unacclimated escape — and it is 
known that at least "fifty per cent of the 
cases prove fatal. 

By means like these you husbanded 
your small command and slender means 
in such a masterly manner that during 
eight months service you did not call 

ex- 
and 
two 
their manners and modesty ; for which, [ thousand more troops than you had re- 
sir, I doubt not, they will in due timei ceived from your Government, with mili- 
you 



outer world, by that terrible decreee, 
called order No. 28. That order as I 
understand it, was simply intended to ex- 
tend a salutary police ararngement, which 
had long existed in New Orleans, so as 
to bring within its jurisdiction and re- 
straintthe improper conduct of those ar- 
istocratic dames who gloried in heaping' upon the Government for a dollar 
insults on the soldiers of the Union. — I cept for the pay of your soldiers ; 
It had the desired effect. It improved , you turned over to your successor 



return you thanks instead of execra- 
tions, as now. The presence of our 
wives and daughters here to-night, 
proves that the ladies of New York re- 
gard that far famed order, both in its 
intention and effects as proper and salu- 
tary. 

You gave lessons equally useful to the 



tary lines embracing two-thirds of the 
population, and nearly that proportion of 
the territory of the State of Louisiana., 
The brief sketch I have thus given of 
your achievements in the Department of 
the Gulf might be indefinitely extended. 
But I have said enough to show that you 
have made a record of which any com- 



6 



mander, however distinguished, iniglit 
justly feel proud, and which the present 
and future generations will not fail to 
appreciate. 

We, Sir, glory in the fact that our 
country and our institutions can, in an 
emergency, produce from private life 
ready-made military commanders, states- 
men and jurists of the highest type, and 
all combined in a single individual. In 
your late eomn)and you have been called 
upon to exercii-e the functions appertain- 
ing to each of these, and it must be con- 
ceded that you acquitted yourself admira- 
bly in all. Asa commander, you did 
not prosecute war in the spirit of peace, 
but with the iron-h;inded rigor which its 
necessities demand and its usages justify, 
and which is an indispensable element of 
success. As a jurist and lawyer, you 
proved yourself a perfect master of every 
code that could be applied to the novel 
legal questions presented for your decis- 
ion. In truth your legal acumen was 
quite an overmatch for that of leading 
rebels and their sympathetic consular al- 
lies. But, sir, it is for the statemanlike 
qualities evinced by you in this contest 
that your friends are disposed to award 
you the highest praise. You seem to 
them to comprehend most perfectly all 
the principles involved in the present con- 
test, as w^ell as the best means of bringing 
it to a successful issue. Your pioneer 
mind, like Daniel Boone among the bor- 
der men of tlie West, seems to keep in 
advance of all others. You are familiar 
with the causes that produced the war : 
you have shared in its progress, and 
have had leisure since your return from 
active service to take a dispassionate sur- 
vey of its present status and its probable 
future. We shall feel greatly obliged if 
you will give us your views on such of 
these topics as may be agreeable to you, 
feeling well fissured that whatever you 
may say will be marked by 3'our accus- 
tomed originality of thought and breadth 
of knowledge, and must therefore prove 
both interesting and instructive 

Without detaining you any longer, 
General, permit me to renew my assur- 
ance of welcome, and then present you 
to an assembly worthy of such a guest. 

The Mayor, at the conclusion of the 
address, again took the General cordially 



by the hand, and presented him to the 
assembly as one of the best specimens of 
the volunteer army of the United St:ites. 
[Prolonged Cheers.] 

General Butler acknowledged the 
courteous reception, and spoke as fol- 
lows : 

SPEECH OF GEX. BDTLER. 

Mr. Mayor — Willi the profoimdest grati- 
tude for the too flattering comraend.ations of 
my administration of the various trusts com- 
mitted to me by the Government, which, in 
behalf of jonr associates, you have been 
pleased to tender. I ask you to receive my 
most heartfelt thanks. To the citizens of New 
York here assembled, graced by the fairest 
and loveliest, in kind appreciation of my ser- 
vices supposed to have been rendered to the 
country, I tender the deepest acknowledge- 
ments. [Applause.] I accept it all, not for 
myself, but for my brave comrades of the Ar- 
my of the Gulf. [Renewed applause.] I re- 
ceive it as an earnest of your devotion to the 
country — an evidence of your loyalty to the 
Constitution under which you live, and under 
which you hope to die. In order that the 
acts of the Army of the Gulf may be undci'- 
stood, perhaps it would be well, at a little 
length, with your permission, that some de- 
tail should be given of the thesis upon which 
we fulfilled our duties. The fii'st question, 
then, to be ascertained is, what is this con- 
test in which the country is engaged? At 
the risk of being a little tedious, at the risk 
even of calling your attention to what might 
seem otherwise too elementary, I propose to 
run down through the history of the contest 
to see what it is that agitates the whole 
country at .this day and this hour. That wc 
are in the midst of civil commotion, all know. 
But what is that commotion? Is it a riot? 
Is it an insurrection ? Is it a rebellion? Or 
is it a revolution? And pray, sir, although 
it may seem still more elementai-y, what is a 
riot? A riot, if I understand it, is simply 
an outburst of the passions of a number of 
men for tlie moment, in breach of the law, 
by force of numbers, to be put down and sub- 
dued by the civil authorities ; if it goes fur- 
thei", to be dealt with by the military author- 
ities. But you say, sir, "V/hy treat us to a 
definition of a riot upon this occasion ? Why, 
of all things, should you undertake to instruct 
a New York audience in what a riot is?" — 
[Laughter.] To that I answer, because the 



Administration of Mr. Buchanan dealt with 
this great change of affairs as if it were a 
riot ; because his Government officer gave the 
opinion that in Charleston it was but a riot; 
and that, as there was no civil authority there, 
to call out the militai-y, therefore Sumter must 
be given over to the rioters ; and that was 
the beginning of this struggle. Let us see 
how it grew up. I deal not now in causes 
but with effects — facts. Directly after the 
gunsiof the rebels had turned upon Sumter, 
the several States of the South, in Convention 
assembled, inaugurated a series of movements 
which took out from the Union divers States; 
and as each was attempted to be taken out, 
the riots, if such existed, were no longer 
found in them, but they became insurrection- 
ary; and the Administration, upon the 15th 
of April, 1861, dealt with this state of affairs 
as an insurrection, and called out the mili- 
tia of the United States to subdue an insur- 
rection. I was called at that time into the 
service to administer the laws in putting 
down an insurrection. I found a riot 
at Baltimore. They had burned bridges ; 
but the riot had hardly arisen to the dignity 
of an insurrection, because the State had 
not moved as an organized community. A 
few men were rioting at Baltimore ; and as 
I marched there at the head of United 
States troops, the question came up, "What 
have I before me ? You will remember that 
I offered then to put down all kinds of in- 
surrections as long as the State of Maryland 
remained loyal to the United States. Trans- 
ferred from thence to a wider sphere at 
Fortress Monroe, I found that the State of 
Virginia, through its organization, had taken 
itself out of the Union, and was endeavoring 
to erect for itself an independent government; 
and I dealt with that State as being in rebel- 
lion, and thought the property of the rebels, 
of whatever name or nature, should be dealt 
with as rebellious property, and contraband 
of war, subject to the laws of war. (Great 
applause.) I have been thus careful in sta- 
ting these various steps, because, although 
through your kindness replying to eulogy, I 
am here answering every charge of inconsist- 
ency and wrong of intention for my acts done 
before the country. Wrong in judgment I 
may have been ; but, I insist, wrong in in- 
tention or inconsistent to my former opinions 
never. Upon the same theory by wliich I felt 
myself bound to put down insurrection in 



Maryland, while it remained loyal, whether 
that insurrection was the work of blacks or 
whites, by the same loyalty to the Constitu- 
tion and laws, I felt bound to confiscate slave 
property in the rebellious State of Virginia. 
(Applause.) Pardon me, sir, if right here I 
say that I am a little sensitive upon this topic. 
I am an old-fashioned Andrew Jackson Dem- 
ocrat of twenty years' standing. (Applause. 
A voice: "The second hero of New Or- 
leans." Renewed applause culminating in 
three cheers.) And so far as I know, I have 
never swerved, so help me God, from one of 
his teachings. (Great applause.) Up to the 
time that Disunion took place, I went as far 
as the farthest in sustaining the constitution- 
al rights of the States. However bitter or 
distasteful to me were the obligations my 
fathers had made for me in the compromise 
of the Constitution, it was not for me to pick 
out the sweet from the bitter : and, fellow, 
democrats, I took them all (loud cheers) be- 
cause they were constitutional obligations; 
(applause,) and sustaining them all, I stood 
by the South and by Southern rights under 
the Constitution until I advanced and looked 
into the very pit of disiinion, and into which 
they plunged, and then not liking the pros- 
pect I quietly withdrew. (Immense applause 
and laughter.) And from that hour we went 
apart, how far apart you can judge when I 
tell you, that on the 28th December, 1860, I 
shook hands on terms of personal friendship 
with Jefferson Davis, and on the 28th of De- 
comber, 1862, I had the pleasure of reading 
his proclamation that I was to be hanged at 
sight. (Great applause and laughter.) And 
now my friends, if you will allow me to pause 
for a moment in this line of thought, as we 
come up to the point of time, when these men 
laid down their constitutional obligations, let 
me ask, what then were my rights, and what 
were theirs? At that hour they repudiated 
the Constitution of the United States, by vote 
in solemn Convention ; and not only that, but 
they took arms in their hands, and under- 
took by force to rend from the Government 
what seemed to them the fairest portion of the 
heritage which my fathers had given to you 
and me ag a rich legacy for our children. 
When they did that, they abrogated, abnega- 
ted, and forfeited every constitutional right, 
and released me from every constitutional ob. 
ligation, so far as they were concerned. 
(Loud cheers.) Therefore when I was thus 



called upon to say what should be my action 
thereafter with regard to slavery, I was left 
to the natural instincts of my heart, as 
prompted by a Christian education in New 
England, and I dealt with it accordingly. 
(Immense applause. ) The same sense of duty 
to ray constitutional obligations, and to the 
rights of the several States that required me, 
so long as those States remained under the 
Constitution, to protect the system of slavery 
— that same sense of duty after they had 
gone out from under the Constitution, caused 
me to follow the dictates of my own untram- 
melled conscience. So you see — and I speak 
now to my old Democratic friends — that, how- 
ever misjudging I may have been, we went 
along together, step by step, up to that point ; 
and I claim that we ought still to go on in the 
same manner. We acknowledged the right of 
those men to hold slaves, because it was guar- 
anteed to them by the compromise of our 
fathers in the Constitution ; but if their State 
rights were to be respected, because of our 
allegiance to the Constitution and respect to 
State rights, when the sacred obligation was 
taken away by their own traitorous acts, a^^^ 
we, as well as the negroes, were disenthralled, 
why should not we follow the dictates of God' s 
law and humanity ? (Tremendous applause, 
and cries of "Bravo, Bravo.") By the exi- 
gencies of the public service removed once 
more to another sphere of action, at New Or- 
leans, I found this problem coming up m an- 
other form, and that led me to examine and 
s«e how far had progressed this civil commo- 
tion, now carried on by force of arms. I 
found under our complex system of States, 
each having an independent government, with 
the United States covering all, that there can 
be treason to a State and not to .the United 
States, revolution in a State and not as re- 
gards the United States, loyalty to a State 
and disloyalty to the Union, and loyalty to 
the Union and disloyalty to the organized 
Government of a State. As an illustration, 
take the troubles which almost lately arose 
in the State of Rhode Island, where there was 
an attempt to rebel against the State Govern- 
ment and to change the form of that Govern- 
ment, but no rebellion against the United 
States. All of you are familiar with the 
movements of Mr. Dorr; in that matter there 
was no intent of disloyalty against the United 
States, but a great deal against the State 
Government. I therefore in Louisiana found 



a State Government that had entirely chang- 
ed its form, and had revolutionized itself so 
far as it could ; had created courts and im- 
posed taxes; and put in motion all kinds of 
government machinery ; and I found so far 
as this State Government was concerned Lou- 
isiana was no longer in and of itself one of 
the United States of Amei-ica. It had, so far 
as it could, changed its State Government, 
and by solemn act had forever seceded from 
the United States of America and attempted 
to join the Confederate States. I found, I 
respectfully submit, a revolutionized State I 
There had been a revolution, by force; be- 
yond a riot, which is an infraction of the law; 
beyond an insurrection, which is an abnega- 
tion of the law; beyond a rebellion, which 
is an attempt to override the law by force of 
numbers ; and, further, I found a new State 
Government formed, that was being support- 
ed by foi:ce of arms. Now, I asked myself, 
upon what thesis shall I deal with those peo- 
ple? Organized into a community under 
forms of laAV, they had seized a portion of 
the territory of the United States; and I re- 
spectfully submit I had to deal with them as 
alien enemies. (Great applause.; They had 
forever passed the boundary of "wayward 
sisters," or "erring brothers," unless indeed 
they erred toward us as Cain did against his 
brother Abel. They had passed beyond that 
and outside of it. Aye, and Louisiana had 
done this in the strongest possible way, for 
she had seized on territory which the Govern- 
ment of the United States had bought and 
paid for. Therefore I dealt with them as ali- 
en enemies. (Applause.) And what rights 
have alien enemies, captured in war? They 
have the right, so long as they behave them- 
selves and arc non-combatants, to be free 
from personal violence ; they have no other 
rights ; and therefore it was my duty to see 
to it, (and I believe the record will show, I 
did see to it, ) [great applause and loud cheers] 
that order was preserved, and that every man 
who behaved well, and did not aid the Con- 
federaiw States, should not be molested in his 
person. I held, by the laws of war, that 
everything else they had was at the mercy of 
the conqueror. (Cheers.) Permit me to state 
the method in which their rights were defined 
by one gentleman of my staff. He very 
cooly paraphrased the Dred Scott decision, 
and said they had no rights which a negro 
was bound to respect. (Loud and prolonged 



laughter and cheers.) But, dealing with 
them in thia way, I took care to protect all 
men in personal safety. Now I hear a friend 
behind me say : " But how does your theoi-y 
affect loyal men ?" The diificulty in answer- 
ing that proposition, is this, in governmental 
action the Government, in making peace 
and carrying on war, cannot deal with indi- 
viduals, but with organized communities, 
whether organized wrongly or rightly; 
(cheers;) and all I could do, so far as my 
judgment taught me, for the loyal citizen, 
was to see to it that no exaction should be 
made of him, and no property taken away 
from him, that was absolutely necessary for 
the success of military operations. I know 
nothing else that I could do. I could not al- 
ter the carying on of the war, because loyal 
citizens were, unfortunately, like Dog Tray, 
found in bad company, (laughter,) and to 
their persons, and to their property, even, all 
posssible protection I caused to be afforded. 
But let me repeat — for it is quite necessary to 
keep this in mind, and I am afraid that for want 
of so doing, some of my old Democratic friends 
have got lost, in going from one portion of 
the country to the other, in their thoughts and 
feelings — let me repeat that, in making war 
or making peace, carrying on governmental 
operations of any sort, governments and their 
representatives, so far as I am instructed, 
can deal only with organized communities, 
and men must fall or rise with the communi- 
ties in which they are situated. You in New 
York must follow the Government as express- 
ed by the will of the majority of your State, 
until you can revolutionize that Government 
and charge it; and those loyal at the South 
must, until this contest comes into process of 
settlement, also follow the action of the or- 
ganized majorities in which their lot has 
been cast, and no man, no set of men, can see 
the possible solution of this or any other gov- 
ernmental problem, as affecting States, except 
upon this basis. Now, then, to pass from the 
particular to the general, to leave the detail 
in Louisiana, of which I have run down the 
account, rather as illustrating my meaning 
than otherwise, I come back to the question: 
What is the contest with all the States that 
are banded together in the so-called Confed- 
erate States? Into what form has it come? 
It started in insurrection; it grew up a re- 
bellion : it has become a revolution, and 
carries with it all the rights of a revolution. 



Our Government has dealt Mith it upon that 
ground. When the Government blockaded 
Southern jio-ts, they dealt with it as a revolu- 
tion ; when they sent out cartels of exchange 
of prisoners, they dealt with tliese people no 
longer as simple insurrectionists and traitors, 
but as organized revolutionists, who had set 
up a government for themselves upon the 
teri-itory of the United States. Sir, let no 
man say to me, "Why, then you acknowl" 
edge the rights of revolution in these men !" 
I beg your pardon, sir, I only acknowledge 
the fact ot revolution — that which has actual- 
ly happened. I look these things in the face, 
and I do not dodge them because they are un- 
pleasant ; I find this a revolution, and these 
men are no longer, I repeat, our erring 
brethren, but tbcy are our alien enemies, 
foreigners [cheers] carrying on war against 
us, attempting to make alliances against us, 
attempting surreptitiously to get into the 
family of nations. I agree that it is not a 
successful revolution, and a revolution never 
to be successful [loud cheers], — pardon me, I 
was speaking theoretically, as a matter of 
law, — never to be successful until acknowl- 
edged by the parent State. Now, then, I am 
willing to unite with you in your cheers, 
when you say, a revolution, the rightfulness 
or success of which we never will acknowl- 
edge. [Cheers.] Why, sir, have I been so 
careful in bringing down with great particu- 
larity these disticticns ? Because, in my 
judgment, there are certain logical conse- 
quences following from them as necessarily 
as various corollaries from a problem in 
Euclid. If we are at war, as I think, with a 
foreign country, to all intents and purposes, 
how can a man here stand up and say he is 
on the side of that foreign country and not be 
an enemy to his country ? [Cheers.] A 
man must be either for his country or against 
his country. [Cheers.] He cannot upon 
this theory, be throwing impediments in the 
way of the progress of his Government, under 
pretense that he is helping some other por- 
tion of his country. If any loyal man thinks 
that he must do something to bring back his 
eri'inc brethren, if he likes that form of 
phrase, at the South, let him take his musket 
and go down and try it in that way. [Cheers.] 
If he is still of a different opinion, and thinks 
that is not the best way to bring them back, 
but he can do it by persuasion and talk, let 
him o-o 'down with me to Louisiana, and I 



10 



will set him over to Mississippi, and if the 
rebels do not feel for his heart-strings, but 
not in love, I will bring him back. [Cheers, 
loud and prolonged. " Send Wood down 
first!"] Let us say to him : Choose ye this 
day whom ye will serve. If the Lord thy 
God be God, serve him: if Baal be God, 
serve ye him. [Cheers.] But no man can 
serve two masters, God and Mammon.— 
• ["Tliat's so,"] Again, there are no other 
logical consequences to flow from the view 
which I have ventured to take of this subject, 
and that is with regard to our relations from 
past political action. If they are now alien 
enemies, I am bound to them by no ties of 
party fealty. They have passed out of that, 
and I think we ought to go back only to ex- 
amine and see if all ties of party allegiance 
and party fealty as regards them are not 
broken, and satisfy ourselves that it is your 
duty and mine to look simply to our country 
and to its service, and leave them to look to 
the country they arc attempting to erect, and 
to its service ; and then let us try the con- 
clusion with them. Mark, by this I give up 
no territory of the United States. Every foot 
that was ever circumscribed on the map by 
the lines around the United States belong to 
us. [Applause.] None the less because bad 
men have attempted to organize worse gov- 
ernment upon various portions of it. It is to 
be drawn in under our laws and our govern- 
ment as soon as the power of the United 
States can be exerted for that purpose, and, 
therefore, my friends, you see the next set of 
logical consequences that prove our theory ; 
that we have no occasion to carry on the fight 
for the Constitution as it was. I beg your 
pardon, the Constitution as it is. Who is in- 
terfering with the Constitution , as it is ? 
Who makes any attacks upon the Constitu- 
tion ? We are fighting with those who have 
gone out and repudiated the Constitution, 
and set another Constitution for themselves. 
[Cheers.] And, now, my frie.'.ds, I do not 
know but I shall use some heresy, but as a 
Democrat, as an Andrew Jackson Democrat, 
I am not for the Union as it was. [Great 
cheering. "Good!" "Good !"] I say, as a 
Democrat, and an Andrew Jackson Democrat, 
I am not for the Union to be again 
as it was. Understand me; I M-as for 
Union, because I saw, or thought I saw, the 
troubles in the future which have burst upon 
us ; but having undergone those t!-oubles, 



having spent all this blood and this treasure, 
I do not mean to go back again and be check 
by jowl with South Carolina as I was before, 
if I can help it. [Cheers. "You're right."] 
Mark me, now, let no man misunderstand 
me, and I repeat, lest I may be misunder- 
stood—there are none so slow to understand 
as those who do not want to— mark me, I say 
I do not mean to give up a single iuch'of the 
soil of South Carolina. If I had been alive 
at that time, and had had the position, the 
will, and the ability, I would have dealt with 
South Carolina as Jackson did, and kept her 
in the Union at all hazards, but now she has 
gone out, and I will take care that when sh« 
comes in again, she comes in better behaved 
[cheers], that she shall no longer be the fire- 
brand of the Union— aye, and that she shall 
enjoy what her people never yet have enjoy- 
ed—the blessings of a Republican form of 
Government. [Applause.] Therefore, in 
that view, I am not for the reconstruction of 
the Union as it was. I have spent treasure 
and blood enough upon it, in conjunction 
with my fellow-citizens, to make it a little 
better. [Cheers.] I think we can have a 
better Union the next time. It was good 
enough if it had been left alone. The old house 
was good enough for me, but as they have 
pulled down all the L part, I propose, when 
we build it up, to build it up with all the 
modern improvements. [Prolonged laughter 
and applause.] Another of the logical se- 
quences, it seems to me, that follow with in- 
exorable and not-to-be-shunned sequence 
upon this proposition, that ve are dealing 
with alien enemies, is with regard to our du- 
ties as to the confiscation of their property, 
and that question would seem to me to be 
easy of settlement under the Constitution, 
and without any discussion, if my first prop- 
osition is right. Has it not been held from 
the beginning of the world down to this day, 
from the time the Israelites took possession of 
the Land of Canaan, which they got from 
alien enemies— has it not been held that the 
whole property of those alien enemies be- 
longed to the conqueror, and t at has been at 
his mercy and his clemency what should be 
done with it? For one, I would take it and 
give the loyal man who was loyal in the 
heart of th*- South, enough to make him as 
well as he was before, and I would take th^ 
balance of it and distribute it among the vol- 
unteer soldiers who have gone [the 



11 



remainder of the sentence was drowned in a 
tremendous burst of applause.] And so far 
as I know them, if we should settle South Car- 
olina with them, in the course of a few year? 
I would be quite willing to receive her back 
into the Union. [Renewed applause.] That 
leads us to deal with another proposition : — 
What shall be done with the slaves? Here 
again the laws of war have longed sett'ed, 
with clearness and exactness, that it is for the 
conqueror, for the government which has 
maintained or extended its jurisdiction over 
the conquered tenitory, to deal with slaves 
as it pleases, to free them or not as it chooses. 
It is not for the conquered 'o make terms, or 
to send their friends into the conquered 
country to make terms for them'. [Applause.] 
Another corollary follows from the proposi- 
tion that we are fighting with alien enemies, 
which relieves us from another difficulty 
which seems to trouble some of my old Dem- 
ocratic friends, and that is in relation to the 
question of arming the negro slaves. If the 
seceded States are alien enemies, is there any 
objection that you know of, and if so, state 
it, to our arming one portion of the foreign 
country against the other while they are 
fighting us. [Applause, and cries of "No I" 
" No! "] Suppose that we were at war with 
England. Who would get up here in New 
York and say that we must not arm the 
Irish, lest they should-hurt some of the Eng- 
lish? [Applause.] And yet at one time, 
not very far gone, all those Englishmen were] 
our grandfather's brothers. Either they or 
we erred; but we are now separate nations. 
There can be no objection, for another reason 
because there is no law of war or of nations, 

no rule of governmental action that I know 

of, v^hich prevents a country from arming 

any portion of its citizens : and if the slaves 
do not take part in the rebellion, they become 
simply our citizens residing in our territory 
which is at present usurped by our enemies. 
[Applause.] At this waning hour, I do not 
propose to discuss, but merely to hint at these 
various subjects. [Cries of "Go on."] There 
is one question I am frequently asked, and 
most frequently by my old Democratic friends: 
-'Why, Gen. Butler, what is your experi- 
ence? Will the negroes fight?" To that I 
answer, I have no personal experience, be- 
cause I left the Department of the Gulf before 
they were fairly brought into action. But 
they did fight, under Jackson, at Chalmette. 



More than that. Let Napoleon III. answer, 
who has hired them to do what the veterans 
of the Crimea cannot do— to whip the Mexi- 
cans. Let the veterans of Napoleon I., under 
Le Clerc, who were whipped by them out of 
San Domingo, say whether they will not fight 
or not. What has been the demoralizing 
eifect upon them as a race by their contact 
with white men, I know not; but I cannot 
forget that their fathers would not have been 
slaves, but that they were captives in war, 
in their OAvn country, in hand to hand fights 
among the several chiefs. They would fight 
at some time ; and if you want to know any 
more than that, I can only advise you to try 
them-. [Great applause.] Passing to anoth- 
er logical deduction from the principle that 
we are carrying on war against alien ene- 
mies, (for I pray you to remember that I am 
only carrying out the same idea upon which 
the Government acted when it instituted the 
blockade,) I meet the question whether we 
thereby give foreign nations any greater 
rights than if we considered them as a rebel- 
lious portion of our country. W^e have 
heretofore seemed to consider, that if we ac- 
knowledged that tliere was a revolution, and 
there were alien enemies in this fight, that 
therefore we should give to foreign nations 
greater right to interfere in our affairs than 
they would have if they were rebels, consid- 
ered and held by us as rebels, only in the 
rebellious part of our own country. The first 
[answer to that is this: that, so far as the 
rebels are concerned, they are estopped to 
deny that they are exactly what they claim 
themselves to be, alien enemies ; and so far 
as foreign nations are concerned, while they 
are alien to us, yet they are upon our territo- 
ry, and until we acknowledge them, there is 
no better settled rule of the law of nations, 
than that the recognition of them is an act^ of 
war. They have no more right to recognize 
them, because we say, " We will deal with 
you as belligerent alien enemies, " than they 
would have to deal with tliem if we dealt with 
them simply as rebels ; and no country is 
more sternly and strongly bound by that 
view than is England, because she held the 
recognition by Fi-ance of our independence to- 
be an act of war and declared war according- 
ly. [Applause.] Therefore, I do not see 
who would lose any rights. We do not allow 
that th:s is a rightful rebellion— we do not 



a 



recognize it as such — we do not act toward it 
except in the best way we can to put it down 
and to re-revolutionize tlie countrj^ But 
what is the duty, theii, of neutrals, if these 
are alien enemies? We find tliem a people 
with whom no neutral nation has any treaty 
of amity or alliance ; they are strangers to 
every neutral nation, and, for example, let 
us take the English. The English nation have 
no treaty with the rebels — have no relations 
with the rebels — open relations I mean, — 
[Laughter,] none that are recognized by the 
laws of nations. They liave a treaty of amity 
and friendship with us, and now what is 
their duty in the contest between us and our 
enemies, to whom tliey are strangers? They 
claim it to be neutrality, such neutrality as 
tliey would maintain between two 
friendly nations with whom they have 
had treaties of amity. Let me illus- 
trate : I have two friends that have got 
into a ciuarrel — into a fight, if you please ; I 
am on equally good terms with both, and I do 
not choose to take a part with either. I treat 
them as belligerents, and hold myself neutral. 
That is the position of a nation, where two 
equall}^ friendly nations are fi^gliting. But I 
have a friend again who is fighting with a 
stranger, with whom I have nothing to do, 
of whom I know nothing that is good, of whom 
I have seen nothing except that he would 
fight — what io my duty, my friends, in that 
case? To stand perfectly neutral? It is not 
the part of a friend, as between men, audit 
is not the part of a friendly «ation as between 
nations. And yet, from some strange mis- 
conception, our Englisli friends profess to do 
no ' more than to stand perfectly neutral, 
while they have treaties of amity with us 
and no treaty which they acknowledge with 
the South. [Applause.] And, therefore, I 
say it is a much higher duty on the part of 
foreign nations toward us when we are in 
contest with a nation with which they have 
no treaty cf amity. To illustrate how this 
fact bears upon this question : the Eng- 
lish say "0! we are going to be neutral ; 
we will not sell you any arms, because we 
should have to sell the same to the Confedert 
stes." To that I answer: You have got 
treaties of amity and commerce with us by 
which you agree to trade with us. You have 
got no treaty of amity or commerce with 
them by which you agree to trade with 
them. Why not, then, trade with us? 
why not give us that right of preference, ex- 
cept ^or reasons that I will state hereafter? 
I liave been thus particular upon this, be- 
cause in stating tliese views to gentlemen in 
whose juilgment I have great confidence, they 
have said to me, "I agree to your views, 
•Mr. Butler, but I am afraid you will involve 
us with other nations, in the view that you 
take of that matter. " But I insist, and I can 
only state th-i proposition — your own minds 
will carry it out familiarly — I insist that 
there is a higher and closer duty to us — treat 



ing the rebels as a strange nation — not j'et 
admitted into tlie family of nations, that there 
is a higher duty from our old friendship, from 
our old relations toward Great Britain, than 
there is to this pushing, attempting-to-get-ia- 
to-place member of the family of nations. 

There is still another logical sequence 
which, in my judgment, follows from this view 
of the case. The great question put to me, 
my friends, and the great question which is 
now agitating this country, is, How are Ave to 
get these men back ? how are we to get this 
territory back? how are we to reconstruct the 
nation ? I think it is much better answered 
upon this hypothesis than any other: There 
are but two ways in whicli this contest can be 
ended; one is by re-revolutionizing a portion 
of this territory, and have theji come to ask 
to bo admitted into the Union; another is, to 
bring it all back, so that if they do not come 
back in the first way, they sliall come back 
bound to our triumphal car of victory, [Ap- 
plause.] Now, when any portion of the South 
Ijecomes loyal to the North and to the L'^nion, 
or, to express it with more care, when any 
portion of the inhabitants of tlie South wish 
to become again a part of the nation, and will 
throw off the government of Jefferson Davis, 
erect themselves into a State, and come and 
ask us to take them back with such a State 
Constitution as thej' ought to be admitted back 
again under, there is no difficttlty in its being 
done. There is no witchery about this. — 
This precise thing has been done in the case 
of Western Virginia She went out — stayed 
out for a while. By the aid of our armies, 
and by the efforts of her citizens, she re-revo- 
httionized, she threw off the government of 
the rest <-f the State of Virginia; she threw 
oflt the Confederate yoke ; she erected herself 
into a State, with a Constitution such as I be- 
lieve is quite satisfactory to all of us, especial- 
ly the amendment. [Applause ] She has 
asked to come back, and has been received 
back, and is the first entering wedge of that 
series of States which will come back that 
way. But suppose they will not come back? 
AVe are bound to sui.ijugatc them. What, then, 
do they become ? Territories of the United 
States — [great applause] — acquired by force 
of arms — [renewed applause] — precisely as 
we acquired California, precisely as we ac- 
quired Nevada, precisely a.s we acquired — not 
exactly, though— as wc acquired Texas — 
[laughter ] ; and then is there any difficulty 
in dealing with these men? Was there any 
difficulty in dealing with the State of Califor- 
nia, when our men went there and settled in 
sufficient numbers so as to give that State the 
benefits of the blessings of a rej)ublican form 
of government? Was there any diflBculty in 
obtaining her, beyond our transactions with 
Mexico? None wliatever. AVill there be any 
difficulty in taking to us the new State of Ne- 
vada when she is ready to come and ripe to 
come? Was there any difficul y in taking 
any portion of the Louisiana purchase, wh'.u 



13 



Januarj' 1 ISf'jo, with the state of the country 
on January 1 18')2, and tell me whether there 
has not been progress. At that time the Un- 
ion a mies held no considerable portion of 
Missouri, of Kentucky, or of Tennessee; none 
of Virginia except Fortress Monroe and Ar- 
lington Heights ; none of North Carolina save 
Hatteras, and none of South Carolina save 
Port V'oyal. All the rest wasgi'ound of strug- 
gle at least, and all the rest furnishing 
supplies to the rebels Now they hold none 
of Missou'^i, none of Kentucky, none of Ten- 
nessee, for apy valuable purpose of supplies, 
because the western portion is in our hands, 
and the eastern portion has been so run over 
by our contending armies that the supplies are 
gone. 'J hey lio'd no portion of Virginia val- 
uable for supplies, for that is eaten out by 
their armies We hold one-third of Virginia, 
and half of North Carolina We hold our 
own in South Carolina ; and I hope that, be- 

..^ ..^. __ ^ fore the llth of this month, we shuU hold a 

having"Sne"by far'too"discursTvely over many I little more. [Applause.] We hold two-thirds 
of these points which I desired to bring to | of Louisiana, m wealth and population. We 



we bought her first? Will there be any diffi- 
culty, when her people get leady to come back 
to the United States, of our taking her back 
again, more than, perhaps, to carry out the 
parallel a little further, to pay a large sum of 
money besides, as we did in the case of Cali- 
fornia after we conquer, d it from Mexico? — 
These States having gone out without caiise, 
without right, without grievance, and having 
formed themselves i^.to new ^tates, and taktn 
upon themselves new alliances, I am not for 
having them come back without readmission. 
I feel, perhaps, if the ladies wi'l pardon the 
illustration, like a husband whose wife has 
run away with anoth-r man, and has divorc- 
ed herself from him ; he cannot take her to his 
arms until they have come before the priest 
and been re-married. [Laughter.] 1 have, 1 
say, the same foeling in the case of these peo- 
ple that have gone out ; when they repent, and 
ask to come back, I am ready to re<;eive them; 
and I am not ready until then. And now. 




1 will answer. While I am very much grati- 
fied at the kind expression of your regard, 
whether that expression is justified can be 
told in a single wokJ. When I left the De- 
partment of the Gulf, 1 sat down and 
deliberately put in the form of an addrfss, to 
the people of that Department, the exact acts I 



plause.] And I believe the colored troops held 
Florida, at the last accounts. Now, then, let 
us see to what the rebellion is reduced. It is 
reduced to the remainder of Virginia, part of 
North Caroliua, all of Georgia, Alabama and 
Mississippi, and a small portion of Louisiana 
and Tennessee; Texas and Arkansas, as 1 said 



had done while in their Department; and I before, being cut otf. Why I draw strong 



hopes from this is, that their supplies all come 
either from Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, 
Arkansas, or Texas, and these are completely 
now beyond their reach To that I look large- 
ly for the suppfessiou of this rebellion, and 
the overthrow of this revolution. They have 
got to the end of their conscription; we have 
not begun ours They have got to the end of 
their national credit; we have not put ours 



said to them, "I have done these things, " and 
I have now waited more than three months, 
and 1 have yet to hear a denial from that De- 
partment that these things were done. [Ap- 
plause.] And to that, sir, I can point alone 
as a justification of your too flattering eulogy, 
and to that I point forever as an answer to 
every slander and every calumny. The ladies 

of New Orleans knew v.-hether they were safe; ,, /. , 

has any one of them ever said the was not?— in any market m the worid. (Applause.) 
The men of New Orieans knew whether lifp And why should any man be aesfondmj 
and property were safe; has any man e^er'why should any man say that this great work 
said they were not? The poor of New Urleans | has gone on too slowly ? why should men feel 
knew whether the money which was taken | impatient? The war of the K evolution was 
from the rich rebels, was applied to the alle- seven years. AVhy should men be so anxious 
viation of their wants ; has any man denied that nations should march faster than they are 
that it was? To that record I point— and it prepared to ma-ch— faster than the tread of 
will be the only answer that I shall ever nations has ever been in the I rovidence of 
make ; and I only do it now because I desire ] God ? Nations in war have ever moved slow- 
that you shall have ncith r doubt nor feeling jly. AVe a-e too impatient— we never learn 
upon this subject-it is the only answer I can anything, it would seem to me, from reading 
ever make to the thousand calumnies that, history— I speak of myself as well as you— I 
have been poured upon me and mine, and up- have shared in that impatience myself. I 
on the officers who worked with me for the have shared in the various matters of disap- 
good of our country. [Applause.] I desire pointment. I was saying but the other day, 
now to say a single wo.d upon the question, to a friend of mine, " It seems sti-angc to rne 
what are the prosp noectsthis war? My sim- that our navy cannot catch that steamer .4te- 
ple opinion would be no better than i\mi oiba ma ; there must be sometlung wrong in the 
another man; but let mc show you the reason Navy Department I am atraid, and 1 got 
for the faith that is in me that this war is quite impatient. I had hardly got over the 
progressing steadily to a successful termin- wound inflicted by the capture of the Jacob 
ation. Compare the state of the Qountvy Qa\Bell, when came the Gokien Fa^le, and the 



14 



Jjadii Jmic, nnd as one was from Boston, it, 
touched me keenly. [Applause ] He leplied : 
''Don't be impatient, remember that Paul 
Jones, with a sailing ship on the coast of Eng- 
land, ptit the whole British navy at detiance 
for many months, and wandered up and down 
thai coast,, and worked his will upon it, (ap- 
plause,) ana England had no naval power to 
contend with, and had not 2,500 miles to 
blockade. I remember that in the French war. 
Lord Cochrane, with one vessel, and that was 
by no means a steamship, held the whole 
French coast against the French navy. And 



to do him welcome in such numbers that the 
very floor would not uphold them (laughter,) 
and to testify our appiec ation o- the high 
qualities of his mother and sovereign, and our 
love for the English people — we gave him such 
a reception as Northern gentlemen give to 
their friends; and his present admirers at 
Bichmond gave him such a leception as South- 
ern gentlemen give to their friends (Laughter 
and applause ) What turth* r has been done 
done by us? No, 1 have no right to claim any 
portion of it. What has been done by the 
merchants of New York? 'ihe George Gris- 



so it has been done by other nations Let us j wold goes out to feed the starving poor of 



have a little patience, and possess our sou's 
Avith a little patriotism, and less politics, and 
we shall have no ditBculty. (Ap.lause, and 
"Good,") But the e is one circumstance of 
this war, I am bound to say in all trankness to 
you, that 1 do not like the appearance of, and 
that is, because we cannot exactly reach it. I 
re er to the war made upon our commerce, 
which is not the fault of the navy, nor of any 
department of the Government, but is the fault 
of our allies. (Applause.) Pardon me a mo- 



Lancashire, to which yourselves all contribu- 
te(^, and it was only God s blessing on that 
charity that prevented that vessel being over- 
hauled and burned by the pirate Alabama, 
fitted out from an Engl'sh port. (Applause.) 
And to-day, at Birkenhead, the Sumter is be- 
ing fitted out — at Babadoesthe captain of the 
Florida is being feted and somewhere the 
"290," the cabalistic number of the British 
merchants who contributed to her construc- 
tiou, is preying upon our commerce, while we 



ment, for I am speaking now in the commer- I hear that at Glasgow a steamer is being built 
cial city of ^ew York, where I think it is of for the Emperor of China — (laughter) — and at 
interest to you, and of a matter to which I Liverpool another is about to be launched for 
have given some reflection— fardon me a mo- j the Emperor of China. Pardon me, I don't 
ment, until we examine and see what England believe the Emperor of China will buy many 
has done She agreed to be neutral — 1 tried ' ships of Great Bi'it.ain, until they bring back 
to demonstrate to you tliat she ought to have \ the silk gowns they stole out of his palace at 
been a little more -but has she been even that? j Pekin. (Laughter and great applause.) And 
("No, no, no,'') Let us see the evidences of, even now, I say that our Commerce is being 
that "no " In the first place, there has been ! preyed upon, by sh ps in the hands of the 
nothing of the Un'on cause that her orato s ! rebels, bu It by English builders. (Cries of 
and her statesmen have not maligned — there " 1 hat's so. ") And I ask the merchants of the 
has been nothing of sympathy or encom-age city of New Y^'ork whether it has not already 
ment which slie has not aiforded our enemies, 1 reached the point where our commerce, to be 
there has been nothing which she could do un- 1 sa'e, has to be carried in British bottoms. — 



der the cover of neutrality which she has not 
done to aid them. ("That is true.") Nas- 



(Great laughter.) Now, I learn from the late 
correspondence of Earl Russe 1, that the 



sau has been a naval arsenal for pirate rebel , British have put two articles of the treaty of 
boats to refit in. Kingston has been the coal Paris incompact with the rebels — first, that 



depot, and Barbadoes has been the dancing 
hall I ' fete I'n-iite chie'"tains in. (Applause.) 
AVhat cause, my friends— what cause, my 
covuitrymen, has England so to deal with us ? 
What IS the reason she does so deal with us? 
Is it because we have never shown sympathy 
toward her or love to her people ? And mark 
me here, that 1 make a distinction between 
the tnglish jieople as a mass and the English 
Government. (Applause.) 1 think the heart 
of her people beats responsive to ours — (ap- 
plause) — but I know her Government and 
aristocracy hate us with a Imte wh ch passeth 
all understanding. (Applause.) I say, let 
us see if we have given any cause for this I 
I know, 1 think, what the cause is ; but let us 
see what we have done. You remember that 
when the famine overtook the Irish in 1847, 
the 3Iacedonian frigate carried out the 
bread from this country to feed the poor that 
England was starving. (Applause.) When 
afterward the heir to her throne arrived Here, 
aye, in this very house, our people assemblea 



enemies goods shall be covered by neutral 
flags, and there shall be free t'ade at the 
ports, and open trade with neutrals. Why 
didn't Great Britain put the other part of the 
treaty in compact; namely, that there should 
be no more privateering ! if she was honest 
and earnest ? Again, when we took from her 
deck our two senalo s and rebel embassadors, 
Slidell and Mason, and took them, in my 
judgment, according to the laws of nations, 
what did she do but threaten us with war ? — 
I agree that it was wisely done, perhaps, not 
to provoke war at that time — we were not 
quite in a condition for it— but I thank God, 
and that always, that we are fast getting in 
a condition to remember that always and 
every day ! (Tremendous applause, and 
waving of handkerchiefs, and cries of 
"Good!") Why is it that all this has been 
done? Because we alone can be the commer- 
cial rivals of Great Britain ! and because the 
South has no commercial marine. There has 
been, in my judgment, a deliberate attempt 



15 



oa the part of Great Britain, under the pica of j twice running. [Laughter] I got frighten- 
ncutrality, to allow our commerce to be ruin- ed a little better than a year ago, but I got 
cd, if human actions indicate human thoughts, over it. [Great laughter.] But further, this 
(Cries of "That is so.") It is idle to tell nie is a necessity; for we must keep our ships at 
Great Britain does not know these vesse's are home in some form to save them from these 
fitted out in her ports. It is idle and insult- 'piracies, when a dozen of these privateers get 
ing to tell me that she put the Alabama under 1 loose upon the seas. It becomes a war meas- 
^20,000 bonds, not to go into the service of the ure which any nation, under any law, under 



Cenfederate States. The Jacob Bell a'one 
Avould pay the amount of the bond over and 
over again. We did not so deal with her 
■vrheii she was at war with Russia. On the 
suggestion o'' the British Minister, our Gov- 
ernment stopped, with the rapidity of 
lightning, the sailing of a steamer, until the 
minister himself was willing to let her go. — 
"VVe must take some means to put a stop to 
these piracies, and to the fitting out of piiate 
vessels in English ports. They are always 
telling us about the inefficiency of a republi- 
can government, but as they are acting now, 
we could stop two pirates to her one. (Ap- 



any construction, would warrant our right to 
enforce. And tiiis course should be adopted 
toward the English nation, for 1 liave never 
heard of any blockade runners under the 
French flag, nor under the Russian liag — nor 
under the xVustrian flag — nor under the Greek 
flag. No! not even the Turks viill do it. — 
[Applause.] And, thtrefo e, I have ventured 
to suggest the adoption of the course, for your 
consideration as a possible, aye, not only pos- 
sible, but, unliss the thing has a lemedy, a 
probable event: for we must see to it that we 
protect ourselves anc^^ take a manly place 
among the nations of the earth. [Applause.] 



plause.) AVe must, in some way, put a stop But I hear some frit-nd of mine say, "I am 



to the construction and fitting out of these pi 
rate vesse's in English ports to prey upon our 
commerce, or else consent to keep our ships at 
home. We must stop them — we must act 
through the people of England, if we cannot 
secure a stoppage in any other way. [Ap- 
plause.] I have seen it stated that the loss to 
our commerce al cady amounts to §9,000,000 
— enough to have paid the expense of keeping 
a large number o vessels at home, and out of 
the waj'O' these cruisers. What shall we do 
in tlie matter? Why, when our Government 
takes a step toward jjutting a stop to it — and 
1 believe it is taking that step now, but it is 
not in my province to speak of it — we must 
aid it in so doing. [Great spplause.] We 
are the Government in this matter, and when 
our Government gets ready to take a step, we 
must get ready to sustain it. [Applause.] 
'England told us what to do when we took 
Mason and Slidell, and she thought there Avas 
a likeliliood to be a war. She stopped expor- 
tation of those articles which she thought we 
wanted, and which she liad allowed to be ex- 
ported before., Let us do the same thing. 
[Applause.] Let us proclaim non-intercourse, 
so that no ounce of food shall ever by txny 
accident get into an Englishman's mouth, itn- 
til these piracies cease. . [Laughter and 
applause.] 

[A voice: " Say that again I''] 
' Gen. Bujlee: I never say anything, my 
friends, that I am afraid to say again. [Ap- 
plause ] I repeat, let us proclaim non-inter 
couse, so that no ounce shall by any accident 
get into an Englishman s mouth, until these 
piracies are stopped. [Applause.] That we 
have a right to do; and when wo ever do it, 
my word ior it, they will find out where these 
vessels are going to, and they will write to 
the Emperor of China upon the subject. [Ap- 
plause ] Btit I hear some objector say, " if 
you proclaim no^i-intei'course, England may 
go to- Vam' Now, I am not to be frightened 



afraid your scheme would brit.g down our pro- 
visions ; acd if we didn't export them to 
England we sli' uld find our western market 
still more depressed, " Allow me, with great 
deference to your judgment, gentlemen, to 
suggest a remedy for that at thw same time. — 
I wottld suggest that the exportation of go d 
be prohibited, and then there wou d Re noth- 
ing to forward to meet tlie bills of exchange 
and pay for the goods we ha^e bought, except 
our provisions. And, taking a hint from olc 
of your best and most successful merchants, 
we could pay for our si ks and satins in but- 
ter, and lard, and coi-n, and beef, and pork, 
ai.d bring up the prices in the West, so that 
they could afford to pay the increased tarilf 
now rendered necessary, I suppose, upon 
your railroads. [Applause.] And it' our fair 
sisters and daughters will dress in silks, and 
satins, and laces, they will not feel any more 
troubled that a portion of the price goes to 
the Western farmer tp enhance his grains, 
instead of going into the. coffers of a Jew 
banker in Wall street. [Applause.] You 
will observe, my friends that 'n the list of 
grievances with which 1 charge Er gland, 1 
ha^e not charged her with tamperiog with 
our leading politicians. [Laughter.] So far 
as any evidence 1 have, 1 don t unow that she 
is guilty, but what .shall we say of our leading 
politicians that have tampered with her?— - 
[Laughter.] 1 have read of it with much sur- 
prise — with more surprise than has been 
excited in me by any other fact of this war. 
[ had, somehow, got an inkling of the various 
things that came up in previous instances. I 
was not very much surprised at them, but 
when I read a statement, deliberately put 
forward, that here, in New York — leading 
politicians had consulted with the British 
minister as to how this United States could 
be separated, every drop of blood in my veins 
boiled; and I would have liked to have seen 
that leading politician. [Tremendous ap- 



C?6 



plnuse.] I do not know that Lord Lyons is to! amongst us such men as these, lineal de 



blame. I suppose, sir, if a man comes to one 
of your clerks and offers to go into partner- 
slii^p with him to rob your neighbors bank, 
and he reports him to you, you do not blame 
the clerk; but what do you do with the man 
wbo makes the'offer? [Laughter.] 
[A voice: "PLing him ! '] 
I think we had better take a lesson from 
the action of Washiugton's administration — 

when the French minister, M. Genet, under 

t ok even to address the people of the United 

States by letter, complaint was made to his 

government, and he was recalled, and a law 

was passed preventing, for all future time, 

any interference by foreign diplomatists with 

the people of the United States — I want to be 

understood — I have no evidence of any inter- 
ference on the par-, of Lord Lyons ; but he 

said I hat, both be 'ore and after a certaiu 

event, leading roliticians came to him and 

desired that he would do what — I am giving 

the substance and not words — desired that he 

would request his Government not to iater- 

fere. Why? Because it would aid the 

country not to interfere? No! Because if 

they did interfere, the country would spurn 

the interference, and be stronger than ever to 

crush the rebellion. Mark again the insidu 

ous way in which the point was put. They ^^^^_^^^^„ _ 

knew how we felt because ♦t)f the actmn of | r^jg™^;;^;^^';"^^^^^^ 

England— they knew that the heart of this l^^j^.^ ^^ j^^^^ ^1^^^^ it ig ^i.^ ^ 



people beat true to the Constitution, and that 
it could not brook any interference on the 
part of England. What, then, did these poli- 
ticians do? They asked the British Minister 
to use the influence of British diplomacy to 
induce other nations to interfere, but to take 
care that Great Britain should keep out of 
sight, lest we should see the cat under the 
meal. (Laughter.) This is precisely the 
proposition that they made. You observe, 
that in speaking 'of t4i?se men, I have, up to 
this moment, used the word politicians: — 
What kind of nolitiaians ? [A voice : "Cop- 
perheads." Hisses and -groans.] They 
•cannot be Demooratic politicians. ["Of 
course, they •cannot."] Howl should like to 
hear Andrew Jackson say a few words upon 

.«uch politicians who call them^lves Demo- 
crats! ["He would hang them."]. No, I don^t 
thijik he would have an opportunity to.dosQ^ 
ho ijevev woiiUl be able* to catch them. — 

■[Laughter.] I have felt it my duty here in 

* the city of New York, because of the intere^ 

I have in public alfairs, to call atfention to 

this most extraordinary fact-^thaf there are 

men in the^ommunity so lost to patriotism, so 

. bound up in the traditions of party, so selfish, 
as to be wfUing to tamper with' Great Britain 
in order to tesing about the separation of this 
country. It is the most alarming fact that I 
havaj«L§een. I had rather see a hundred 
thotjBJBEmen set in the fi»ld on the *fe^el 
s;(l"3t^yC!, riiad rath*f-"see Great Britain 
anaed against us openly, aS^rJie is covcrtly-r 
than to be foits.ed to believe that there ar* 



scendants of Judas Iscariot, intermarried 
with the race of Benedict Arnold. ["Wood," 
"Brooks."] It has shov.-u me a great danger 
with which we are threatened, and I call 
upon all true men to sustain-*^e Government 
— to be loyal to the GoVeroment. [Loud 
cheers.] As you, Sir, were pleased to say, 
the present Government was not the Goverh- 
ment of my choice — I did not vote for it, or 
for any part of it; but it is the Government 
of my country, it is the only organ by which 
I can exert the force of the country to pro- 
tect its integrity; and as long as I believe 
that Government to be honestly administered, 
I will throw a mantle over any mistakes that I 
may think it has made, and support it heart- 
ily, with hand and purajs, so help me God ! 
[Prolonged cheering.] I have no loyalty to 
any man or men ; my loyalty is to the Gov- 
ernment ; and it makes no difference to me 
who the people have chosen to' administer the 
Government, so long as the choice has beea 
constitutionally made, and the persons so 
chosen hold their places and pov.'crs. I am a 
traitor and a false man if I falter in my sup- 
port. [Applause.] This is what I understand 
to be loyalty to a Government ; and I was 
sorry to learn, as I did the other day, that 
there was a man in New York who professed 
not to know the meaning of the word loyalty. 

Wood."] I 
ay nere mat ii is uie duty of every 



man to be loyal to the Government, to sustain 
it, to pardon its errors, and help it, to rectify 
them, and to do all he can to aid it in carry- 
ing the country on in the course of glory and 
grandeur , in which it was started by our 
fathers. And let me say to you, my friends— 
to you, young men, that no man who opposed 
his countrv in time o£ "waf ever prospered. — 
[ ' ' That' s so. " ] The Tory of the Revolutibn, 
the Hartford Convenliohist of 1812, th» im- 
mortal seven who voted against' the supplies 
for the Mexican War— all history is against 
these men.- L*et n& politician of our day put 
himself in the way of the march of this dbun- 
try. to glory and greatness, for whoever does 
so will surely be crushed. The course of our 
nation is onward, and let him who opposes it • 
beware. ^ • 

"The mower mowes on— though the adder may 
writhe, • ^ 

Or the copperhead curl round the bjade of his 
,, _ scythe. ''• 

[Loud appla\ise.] It ojily remains, sir,, for 
me to repeat /he expression of my gratitude 
to you ana the citizens of New York here as- 
•^giiibled, for the kinckiess with whiok yoq, 
and they have received me. and listened" .to 
me, for wOjLich, please, again accept my 
Olianks. fProlonged cheering.] • 



[Ohio State Journal Prff-J 



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